Winding machine



Dec. 13, 1966 R. l. WALDEN 3,291,404

WINDING MACHINE Filed 001;. 9, 1964 INVENTOR. RICHARD I. WALDEN WX (M ATTORNEYS MAW United States Patent M 3,291,404 WINDING MACHINE Richard I. Walden, Warwick, R.I., assignor to Leesona Corporation, Warwick, R.I., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 402,807 11 Claims. (Cl. 242-18) This invention relates to winding machines of the automatic type for producing a delivery package and is more particularly concerned with a device for positively biasing a delivery package against a rotation arresting member of the winding machine during the winding operation. This invention is particularly applicable where increased braking resistance is desirable between the surface of a rotating package and the arresting member. I

In U.S. Patent 2,764,362 to G-oodhue et al., entitled Winding Machines, issued September 25, 1956, there is disclosed and claimed a fully automatic winding machine for winding yarn or the like into various forms of packages, especially cones.

In essence, the machine of this patent consists of a winding section including a rotatable winding mandrel mounted for controlled movement between a winding position, a braking position, and a reverse rotation position and a drive roll for rotating the package in winding position and provided with a groove to traverse the yarn being wound upon the package; an end-finding and reuniting section operable in the event of thread breakage, which section includes a knotter and separate means for finding the respective free ends of the broken yarn and conveying them to the knotter to be joined together; a preliminary yarn servicing section including means for detecting, and cleaning the yarn supplied to the mandrel; and an enclosed control section for superintending the other sections and controlling the functioning thereof. It was contemplated in this machine that the winding mandrel was carried by a main package arm mounted for pivotal movement on one side of the control section adjacent the rear end thereof, the arm being moved by means of a control cam. The control cam was provided with an arrangement of consecutive camming surfaces operable during rotation thereof to move the arm from a normal winding position to a braking position, with a sufficient dwell at the braking position to allow the rotating package to be brought to a halt, and then to a reverse rotation position, where the package was rotated in a direction opposite to that of normal winding to enable the free end of a broken thread to be extricated from the convolutions on the package, engaged by a delivery end-finding means and conveyed to the knotter for connection to the free supply end, the dwell at reverse rotation position being sufficient for the end-finding means to perform its function. After this dwell at the reverse rotation position, during which the cam continued to rotate, the main package arm was moved by the cam in the opposite direction to bring the package first to braking position to halt its reverse rotation, at which time the ends were reunited, and then to normal winding position and into peripheral contact with the drive roll.

Rotation of the package control cam to move the main package through the stages just described was instigated as a result of thread breakage and, when the thread was running properly, the cam was locked against rotation, the main package arm being held in normal widing position by the corresponding camming surface on the control cam.

As was stated previously, the package was moved from the winding position to the braking position and from the reverse rotatio position to the braking position with a sufficient dwell at the braking position to allow the 3,291,404 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 rotating package to be brought to a complete halt. This is necessary since to transfer the package directly from one roll to another roll moving in the opposite direction while the package is rotating in the direction it was first driven will cause possible damage to the yarn at the surface of the package. More importantly, moving the package directly from the winding position to the reverse rotation position without first stopping the rotating of the package frequently causes the free end of the yarn to be driven deeply into the package making extrication of the end from the convolutions of the package impossible.

The trend in yarn packaging in recent years has been towards the production of larger packages. This has created problems during the package winding operation since the larger diameter rotating packages have substantially increased momentum and therefore require a correspondingly longer dwell period at the braking position to come to a complete halt. One obvious method of overcoming this problem is to redesign the control section to allow a longer dwell period at the braking position, but there are disadvantages to this method. Where the same machine is used to wind both small and large packages, the increased dwell time is unnecessarily long for small packages. Also, even with large packages, the increased dwell time reduces the over-all speed of the machine with a corresponding loss in efficiency.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to increase the efiiciency of package winding machines while winding large, heavy packages.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means for automatically reducing the time required to bring rotating packages to a complete halt.

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for automatically applying positive bias to a rotating package thereby pressing its surface against the braking member to create additional braking friction and reduce the time required to bring the package to a complete halt.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide means for automatically rdeucing the time required to bring a relatively large rotating package to a complete halt, said means being inoperative where relatively small packagesare being wound. 7

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for automatically applying positive bias to a large diameter rotating package thereby pressing its surface against the braking member, said means being inoperative where smaller diameter packages are being wound.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide during a winding operation means for automatically applying positive bias to a rotating package thereby pressing its surface against the braking member as the package diameter increases during the latter part of the operation, said biasing force increasing proportionately as the packagediameter increases and said means being inoperative while the diameter is small during the initial part of the operation. I I

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a right side elevation of the .control section of the winding machine of U.S. Patent 2,764,362 and a portion of an adjoining frame member embodying the improvements of the present invention, the components of the section being shown in normal winding position; and

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but with the components shown in the position assumed thereby when the package is in braking position.

Before proceeding with the detailed description of the invention, it should be explained that the improvements of the present invention are essentially confined to the winding section of the winding machine of the previously identified patent. As the other sections of the machine are not a part of the present invention, they will neither be described nor illustrated here. Thus, for an over-all understanding of a complete operating machine, reference should be made to the aforesaid Patent No. 2,764,362. It will be understood that the parts of the patented machine which are absent from this description and the accompanying drawings will ordinarily be present in a complete working machine and may be the same as shown and described in that patent.

Turning now to a detailed description of the drawings, with reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, the numeral 2 designates a housing containing the control section of the winding machine. Located above housing 2, adjacent the front thereof, is a package drive or traverse roll 4 having a helical groove therein for traversing the strand of yarn, a reverse rotation roll 6, and a braking member 8 arranged between rolls 4 and 6, the means for supporting these three elements and for driving the two rolls being omitted. Braking member 8 may be the same as the device described in detail and claimed in US. Patent 2,992,785 for Package Arresting Device, issued July 18, 1961 to Thomas E. Pitts. Drive roll 4, braking member 8, and reverse rotation roll 6 constitute three positions assumed by package P during the operation of the machine, and in FIGURE 1 the package P being wound is shown in the first of these positions, namely, in frictional contact with the periphery of roll 4. The surface of the package is normally maintained in contact with the two rolls and the braking member by the weight of the package itself. The normal position of the package, when winding, proceeds in a regular manner.

As illustrated, the machine is set up to wind a conical package or cop upon a conical paper tube or core held on a winding mandrel or cop holder 10, which is likewise conical, although other shapes of mandrels and tube could be substituted. Winding mandrel 10 is rotatably mounted on a winding spindle (not visible in the drawings) which is, in turn, supported on a generally transversely extending arm (also not visible in the drawings) capable of pivotal movement at its end about a substantially vertical axis. The end of this arm is fitted within a socket 12 provided for that purpose at the free end of extension arm 14 disposed in approximate vertical alignment with the side of frame 2. The end of extension arm 14 opposite socket 12 is rotatably held in bearing 16 formed as an integral part of joint member 18. At its lower end, member 18 is pivoted on a stud shaft 20 extending horizontally and inwardly of the upper end of a massively constructed, elongated link 22, which is herein designated the main pack-age support arm.

It will be seen that, in effect, joint member 18 functions as a kind of universal joint permitting package extension arm 14 to pivot with respect to both the horizontal axis of stud shaft 20 and the upwardly and forwardly inclined axis of the bearing 16, whereby the winding spindle and mandrel can swing upwardly as a unit about shaft 20 away from drive roll 4, as well as to pivot backwardly and forwardly with respect to socket 12 and to cant upwardly with respect to the bearing 16. In this way, the winding spindle is adapted to recede from the driving roll in a manner suitable for the building of a conically shaped package. This freedom of movement of the winding mandrel 10 is necessitated by the fact that the helical groove in the traversing roll 4 is developed with a progressively changing lead for the purpose of accelerating the speed of traverse of'the wraps of yarn towards the apex end of the winding package P and, correspondingly, to retard the speed of traverse near the base of the package. The yarn is thereby laid on the package in a manner such that the wraps of yarn have an increasing pitch from the base to the apex of the package. Thus, the yarn builds faster toward the base of the package so that the package will have a gradually increasing taper or conicity from the start to the finish of the winding cycle. In order that the surface of the package P being wound on the core remains constantly in full driving contact with the periphery of drive roll 4, coil spring 24, which is concentric with the cylindrical portion of extension arm 14, is secured under tension at its base to the end of bearing 16 and at the top to extension arm 14 by sleeve 26, whereby a biasing pivotal force is applied to extension arm 14 to force the apex end of the winding package P down against the drive roll 4 as the conicity increases.

Main package arm 22 is pivoted at its lower end, adjacent the upper rear corner of the side of housing 2, on the exterior end of shaft 25 extending transversely through housing 2. Shaft 25 is rotated in the proper sequence by the control section in housing 2 to pivot the main package arm 22, and consequently the package itself, between the traverse roll position, the braking member position, and the traverse roll position.

Thus far the description has been confined substantially to the parts of the winding machine disclosed and claimed in US. Patent 2,764,362, which, in themselves, have no essential relation to the present invention except to establish a context for the description thereof.

In accordance with the present invention, a quadrant plate 28 is secured to joint member 18, these two elements being subject to movement together about stud shaft 20. Medially fulcrumed lever arm 30 is mounted on stud shaft 20 for free rotation thereon. Attached to the tapered end of the lever arm 30 is a cam follower or roll 32 mounted on stud shaft 34. The opposite end of lever arm 30 contains an elongated slot 36 through which extends pin 38 which is embedded in quadrant plate 28. Between pin 38 and a second pin 40, mounted on lever arm 30, is secured an expanded coil spring 42 under tension such that it tends to draw the pins 38 and 40 towards each other thereby forcing cam follower 32 downwardly.

Secured to a section of the winding machine frame 44 is a pressure plate or cam 46 so situated that it will cooperate with cam follower 32 forcing the fulcrumed lever arm 30 to pivot against the bias of spring 42 when the main package support arm 22 is in braking position. The right portion of cam 46 extends downwardly at an angle allowing the fulcrumed lever arm 30 to return to its normalposition when the main package support arm 22 is in reverse winding position. This last position is generally shown by the dotted lines in FIGURE 2. When the package support arm 22 returns from reverse winding position to braking position following retrieval of the broken end of the yarn the cam follower 32 will ride up the inclined surface of the cam 46, thereby forcing the fulcrumed lever arm 30 to pivot against the bias of spring 42.

It is readily apparent that when the package P is in braking position as shown in FIGURE 2, if package P is of sufficiently large diameter coil spring 42 will be expanded,

thereby applying considerable downward pressure to extension arm 14 through quadrant plate 28 and pin 38. This pressure causes the surface of rotating package P to be pressed against brake member 8 with considerably more force than the pressure attributable to the weight of the package itself. It is this increased biasing force against the braking member 8 which through increased braking resistance causes the package, rotating in either direction, to be halted in substantially less time. With the increased braking resistance, the dwell time at the braking position need not be increased to allow sufficient time for large packages having a substantial momentum to come to a halt.

An additional feature of the present invention lies in the fact that the novel bias applying device may be set, through adjustment of quadrant plate 28 with respect tojoint member 18, to automatically become inoperative when smaller diameter packages are mounted on winding mandrel 10. With smaller diameter packages, the extension arm 14 will be lower than it is with large diameter packages, the distance between the winding mandrel 1i) and the surface of traverse roll 4 being less. Consequently, the joint member 18 and attached quadrant plate 28 will be pivoted counter-clockwise thereby pivoting the medially fulcrumed lever arm 30 in the same direction due to the downward movement of pin 38 against the lower end of slot 36. This pivoting of the lever arm 30 will cause the cam follower to be raised sufficiently that it will not come in contact with the surface of cam 46 when the smaller diameter package P is in braking position. With smaller diameter packages, the weight alone of the package P on the braking member 8 will create sufficient braking resistance to bring the rotating package to a complete halt during the normal dwell time, since the momentum of the package is not great.

It will also be readily apparent that when large diameter packages are produced with the arrangement disclosed in the previous paragraph whereby the bias applying device will be inoperative with smaller diameter packages, no biasing will be applied to the package during the braking steps of the initial part of the buildup of the package, since the weight alone of the package on the braking member 8 will create sufficient braking resistance. Only during the latter part of the build-up when the diameter of the package is considerably larger, is a positive biasing force applied through cam 46 to increase the braking resistance and compensate for the increased momentum of the package. The dwell time at the braking position will be maintained constant throughout the whole winding operation. Moreover, it will be appreciated that the biasing force applied by spring 42 will be directly proportioned to the increase in the size of that package. That is to say, the larger the diameter of the package the greater will be the distance between pin 38 and 49 when cam roll 32 and cam 46 are engaged. Thus, the force of spring 42 urging package P against member 8 will, in this case, be increased proportionately over what it would have been if the pack age diameter was smaller thereby yielding less extension of spring 42 between pins 38, 40.

As an explanation of the operation of each of the major mechanisms involved in the present invention was provided in connection with the description of these mechanisms, further discussion of the operation thereof is considered unnecessary. However, from what has been stated, it will be seen that the invention achieves the objectives set forth in the introduction to the specification and constitutes a highly satisfactory solution to postulated difficulties with winding large diameter packages on a winding machine of the type disclosed in Goodhue et al., 2,764,362.

The precise embodiment described and illustrated here is provided for purposes of example only, as the construction and cooperation of various elements is obviously subject to modification and variation without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be measured by the appended claims rather than by the details of the exemplary embodiment.

What is claimed is:

1. In a winding machine for winding yarn upon a rotating package wherein rotation of the package is halted by frictional contact with a braking member and means are provided for movement of said package to and from a braking position wherein said package contacts said braking member, the improvement comprising, biasing means for urging said package against said braking member at said braking position, and means operable in response to movement of said package to said braking position, for actuating said biasing means, whereby to arrest rotation of said package.

2. A winding machine as in claim 1 wherein said means for operating said biasing means includes a stationary 6 cam and a cooperating cam follower, said cam follower being actuated by the movement of said package to and from said braking position.

3. A winding machine as in claim 2 wherein said biasing means is a spring member.

4. In a machine for winding yarn upon a rotating package wherein rotation of the package is halted by frictional contact with a braking member and means are pro vided for movement of said package to and from a braking position wherein said package contacts said braking member, the improvement comprising biasing means for urging said package against said braking member at said braking position, actuating means operable in response to movement of said package to said braking position for actuating said biasing means, and means for rendering said actuating means inoperable until said package has reached a predetermined diameter during its winding.

5. A winding machine as set forth in claim 4 wherein said biasing means is a spring member.

6. A winding machine as in claim 4 wherein said means for operating said biasing means includes a stationary cam and a cooperating cam follower, said cam follower being actuated by the movement of said package to and from said braking position.

7. In a winding machine for winding yarn on a rotating package wherein rotation of the package is halted by frictional contact with a braking member and is supported on an extension arm connected by a pivot shaft with a support arm on the machine, said support arm being operable to shift said package between a winding position and a braking position contacting said braking member, the improvement comprising a biasing means operably connected with said extension arm, and means operable in response to movement of said package to said braking position for actuating said biasing means whereby to pivot said extension arm and bias said package into engagement with said braking member.

8. A winding machine as in claim 7 wherein the means for operating said biasing means includes a movable lever, said biasing means being connected between said lever and said extension arm, said lever being movable by cam means to actuate said biasing means.

9. A winding machine as in claim 8 wherein said cam means includes a cam follower on said lever and a cam member positioned to engage said cam follower in response to movement of said package to said braking position.

10. A winding machine as in claim 9 wherein said lever is mounted on said pivot shaft and is rotatable therearound as said winding package increases in diameter, said cam follower being disposed in an inoperable position spaced from said cam member when said package is moved to said braking position and said package is less than a predetermined size, said cam follower being rotated to an operable position to engage said cam and operating said biasing means at said braking position when said package exceeds a predetermined size.

11. A winding machine as set forth in claim 10 wherein said biasing means is a spring member, said cam follower in its operable position being movable in a path to cause said spring member to exert a biasing force on said package toward said braking member directly proportional to the size of said package.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,363,988 11/1944 Peterson 24237 2,757,874 8/ 1956 Marcellus 242-35.6 3,064,910 11/1962 Schippers et al 24218 STANLEY N, GILREATH, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A WINDING MACHINE FOR WINDING YARN UPON A ROTATING PACKAGE WHEREIN ROTATION OF THE PACKAGE IS HALTED BY FRICTIONAL CONTACT WITH A BRAKING MEMBER AND MEANS ARE PROVIDED FOR MOVEMENT OF SAID PACKAGE TO AND FROM A BRAKING POSITION WHEREIN SAID PACKAGE CONTACTS SAID BRAKING MEMBER, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING, BIASING MEANS FOR URGING SAID PACKAGE AGAINST SAID BRAKING MEMBER AT SAID BRAKING POSITION, AND MEANS OPERABLE IN RESPONSE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID PACKAGE TO SAID BRAKING POSITION, FOR ACTUATING SAID BIASING MEANS, WHEREBY TO ARREST ROTATION OF SAID PACKAGE. 